University of Minnesota

There is a lot to learn about Alzheimer’s and how it can be better treated. Scientists now have an inventive new tool with which to look into such matters, in the form of a transparent skull that allows them to peer into heads of mice.

​When he was an assistant professor at Princeton University, Michael McAlpine led the development of a 3D-printed bionic ear. Now an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, he has gone on to 3D-print a rudimentary bionic eye.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have designed a silicone device, covered in 3D-printed neuronal stem cells, that can be implanted into a spinal injury. There it grows new connections between remaining nerves to let patients regain some motor control.

Various research institutes have already developed skin-applied electronics, that are simply adhered to the user's body. Researchers at the University of Minnesota, however, have taken a different approach. They've developed a method of 3D-printing custom electronics directly onto the skin.

There may be an unexpected upside to being relatively forgetful – you might be able to enjoy things for longer. A new study has found that people with a higher-capacity memory tend to get bored faster, due to the fact that they remember experiences in more detail and feel more satiated by them.

One of the many problems with heart attacks is that when the heart heals afterwards, it grows non-beating scar tissue over the part of the heart that was damaged. There may be hope, however, as scientists have created a new patch that allows the heart to heal more completely.

While deep-freezing techniques exist to preserve organs for long periods of time, the tissue can get damaged when being reheated, making it an impractical solution for transplants. Researchers at the University of Minnesota believe they've solved this problem thanks to tiny microscopic particles.

Scientists are claiming a chemical breakthrough that replaces the key molecule in conventional tires with one sourced from grass and trees instead, all without affecting the tire's color, shape or performance.

A non-invasive robotic arm developed by University of Minnesota researchers could give the physically impaired a newfound sense of mobility without the risk of going under the knife.

The majority of commonly-used soaps contain petroleum. While there are petroleum-free soaps out there, they often don't perform that well. Now, however, scientists have developed one that is claimed to actually work better than mainstream products.

A new study shows that monkeys in captivity lose so much of the diversity of their natural gut microbes, that the bacteria in their digestive tracts starts resembling those of modern Western humans.

We already knew that graphene was a highly useful material, but just how useful is it? Well, it turns out that even defective graphene may be valuable. According to a team of mostly-American scientists, improperly-formed graphene could find use in next-generation fuel cells.